Interstate 95 in Connecticut

Interstate 95
Jewish War Veterans Memorial Highway
Route information
Maintained by ConnDOT
Length: 111.57 mi[1] (179.55 km)
Major junctions
South end: I-95 in Port Chester, NY
  US 7 in Norwalk
Route 8 / Route 25 in Bridgeport
I-91 in New Haven
Route 9 in Old Saybrook
I-395 in East Lyme
North end: I-95 in Hopkinton, RI
Highway system

Main route of the Interstate Highway System
Main • Auxiliary • Business

Routes in Connecticut
Special Service Roads • State Roads

← Route 94 Route 97 →

Interstate 95, the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, runs in a general east–west compass direction for 111.57 miles (179.55 km) in Connecticut from the Rhode Island state line to the New York State line. I-95 Southbound from East Lyme to the New York State is part of the Connecticut Turnpike. I-95 Northbound begins at the New York state line at Greenwich and leaves the Turnpike in East Lyme near New London, and continues east to the Rhode Island State line. This stretch of I-95 is known as the Jewish War Veterans Memorial Highway and Connecticut Turnpike.[2]

Contents

Route description

See also: Connecticut Turnpike

Interstate 95 enters Connecticut as the Connecticut Turnpike in Greenwich at the New York state line. The Connecticut Turnpike stretches for 128 miles (206 km) across the state, but only the first 88 miles (142 km) of the Connecticut Turnpike is signed as I-95. The Turnpike portion of I-95 passes through the most heavily urbanized section of Connecticut along the shoreline between Greenwich and New Haven, going through the cities of Stamford, Norwalk, Bridgeport, and New Haven, with daily traffic volumes of 120,000 to over 150,000 throughout the entire 48-mile (77 km) length between the New York state line and the junction with I-91 in New Haven. The Turnpike intersects with several major expressways, namely U.S. Route 7 at Exit 15 in Norwalk, Route 8 at Exit 27A in Bridgeport, the Merritt and Wilbur Cross Parkways at Exit 38 (via the Milford Parkway) in Milford, and Interstate 91 at Exit 48 in New Haven.

North (east) of I-91, the Turnpike continues along the Connecticut shoreline with a smaller amount of volume. The six-lane highway is reduced to four lanes in Branford, interchanges with Route 9 at Exit 69 in Old Saybrook, crosses the Connecticut River on the Baldwin Bridge and continues until the interchange with Interstate 395 at Exit 76 near the East Lyme-Waterford line. After Exit 76, the Turnpike continues on I-395 while I-95 continues east through New London, Groton, Stonington, and North Stonington towards the Rhode Island State line.

Going southbound, the last exit before the Connecticut Turnpike segment is Exit 80 for Oil Mill Road. The first exit northbound is Exit 81 for Cross Road. Just before the Cross Road exit is a weigh station. The road then enters Waterford and intersects with Route 85 at Exit 82. Exit 82A northbound is for a Frontage Road of I-95 and has access to shopping malls. Exit 83 differs in each direction. Going southbound, Exit 83 is for U.S. Route 1, the Frontage Road and the shopping malls. Going northbound however, Exit 83 is for Route 32 (Connecticut) and downtown New London.

Exits 84S, 84N and 84E, only going southbound, are for Route 32, Norwich and downtown New London. Exit 85 is northbound only and is for U.S. Route 1 and is accessible off the Gold Star Bridge, which crosses the Thames River. Exit 86 is in both directions for Routes 12 and 184 in Groton. Accessible from Exit 86 is the Groton Sub Base. Exit 87 is for Route 349, also known as the Clarence B. Sharp Memorial Highway. A mile after Exit 87, Exit 88 leaves for Route 117 in Noank. Just short of three miles (5 km) later, I-95 enters Mystic and interchanges with Allyn Street at Exit 89 and Route 27 at Exit 90. Route 234 interchanges three miles (5 km) after Exit 90 at Exit 91. Exit 92 is for Routes 2 and 49. An attraction off Exit 92 is a Foxwoods Casino. Exit 93 is the final exit before Rhode Island and is for Routes 216 and 184. Interstate 95 then enters Rhode Island at 111 miles (179 km).

Auxiliary routes

Disasters

In January 1983, a truck with a brake failure slammed into a line of cars waiting to pay a toll on I-95 in Stratford, Connecticut. Seven people were killed. This accident helped lead to the removal of toll barriers throughout Connecticut, which was completed six years after.

On the morning of June 28, 1983, a 100 foot (30 m) section of the Mianus River Bridge in Cos Cob collapsed, plunging northbound I-95 traffic into the Mianus River below, killing three. The collapse was blamed on the failure of the steel pins to hold the horizontal beams together and inadequate inspection prior to the collapse. Northbound traffic was diverted on this section of I-95 for 25 days. Southbound traffic was unaffected.

On March 26, 2004, a bridge on I-95 in Bridgeport, Connecticut was partly melted by the explosion of a tanker truck carrying over 11,900 gallons (45,000 L) of fuel oil. Repairs were estimated to take at least two weeks, but the highway was opened to northbound traffic in only a few days. Southbound traffic resumed about a week later.

At 10:20 AM on November 2, 2007, a tanker truck, carrying heating oil plowed over the divider, knocking the side of a tractor trailer's trailer and striking several other cars in its path. Three people were killed, including the driver of the tanker and the occupants of two cars that were completely destroyed in the crash. The driver of the tractor trailer survived (his Pit Bull canine companion emerged completely unharmed) but the trailer of the tractor trailer was split open. At least three other cars were involved in this accident. A part of the road was damaged and took until the next morning to fully reopen, partly due to a cleanup after the accident.

History

Interstate 95 in Connecticut, particularly in Fairfield and New Haven Counties, has far more exits than typical Interstate Highways, with some exits less than one mile (1.6 km) apart. State transportation officials have said the reason for the many exits stems from the state's original justification for building parts of the highway — to ease traffic congestion on Route 1 by providing a faster, alternate route, even for drivers traveling short distances within the same community. Rather than skirting urban areas, the highway was built directly through the most dense sections of Stamford, Norwalk, Bridgeport and New Haven.

While most of I-95 was built as the Connecticut Turnpike, the Connecticut Turnpike incorporated several pieces of already-built relocations, some to freeway standards, of U.S. Route 1 (the Turnpike split from the US 1 relocation in East Lyme, along the Old Lyme-New London section):

Other improvements in the corridor included the New York-Meriden Merritt Parkway/Wilbur Cross Parkway, New Haven-Old Saybrook Route 80, and Groton-Rhode Island Route 184, the latter connecting in Rhode Island to Route 3, a shortcut to Providence.

Most of the Turnpike opened January 2, 1958, and was designated I-95 south/west of the split with the relocated US 1 by 1959. The rest of I-95 to Rhode Island opened December 12, 1964. The Gold Star Bridge was twinned ca. 1975, along with a reconstruction of its approaches, and in 1993 the Raymond E. Baldwin Bridge was replaced with a wider span.

The state installed cameras to watch traffic along the highway in the early 1990s. As of 2007, about 100 cameras have been set up and are monitored by state police and the state Department of Transportation. In Fairfield County, local emergency responders (fire departments and ambulance services) that serve the highway in individual towns have asked for direct feeds from the cameras to avoid mistakes. When travelers report an accident, they sometimes tell authorities that it occurred near an exit that is actually not the nearest to the scene, slowing down response time. The traffic feed from the cameras is available on the World Wide Web, but the service can be spotty, according to the Stamford, Connecticut and Norwalk, Connecticut fire chiefs, who said they were hoping that a proposed $40 million upgrade of the camera system, under consideration by the state in 2007, would provide them access.[3] Feeds from these cameras are also used by local media outlets, as part of traffic report segments in news programming, and in some instances as a part of a designated "Traffic and Weather" Channel.

Construction plans

While the corridor was designated "High Priority Corridor 65" in 2005, work along Interstate 95 in Connecticut has been ongoing for nearly 15 years.

Interstate upgrades

Mass transit upgrades

These projects have been undertaken in large part to reduce traffic on the highway, which is often congested, particularly in Fairfield County:

Exit list

County Location Mile Exit Destinations Notes
Fairfield
 Greenwich 0.00 I-95 south Continuation into New York; southwestern end of the Connecticut Turnpike concurrency
0.78 2 Delavan Avenue – Byram
2 Former toll plaza
2.54 3 Arch Street – Greenwich
3.73 4 Indian Field Road – Cos Cob, Greenwich
5.53 5 US 1 – Riverside, Old Greenwich, Mianus
Stamford 6.50 6 Harvard Avenue Northbound exit and southbound entrance
6.62 6 West Avenue Southbound exit and northbound entrance
7.30 7 Greenwich Avenue To Route 137 Access to Route 137 via Washington Boulevard (SSR 493); northbound exit and southbound entrance
7.67 8 Atlantic Street Southbound signed as exit 7 to Route 137 (via SSR 493)
8.20 8 Elm Street Southbound exit and northbound entrance
9.28 9 US 1 / Route 106 – Glenbrook
Darien 10.75 10 Norton Road, Ledge Avenue – Noroton
11.61 11 US 1 – Darien, Rowayton
12.23 12 Route 136 (Tokeneke Road) – Rowayton Northbound exit and southbound entrance
13.14 13 US 1 (Post Road)
Norwalk 14.83 14 US 1 (Connecticut Avenue) No northbound exit
15.49 15 US 7 – Norwalk, Danbury
South Norwalk		 Split northbound into exit 14 (South Norwalk) and exit 15 (US 7)
15.91 Yankee Doodle Bridge over the Norwalk River
16.24 16 East Avenue – East Norwalk
18 Former toll plaza
Westport 18.13 17 Route 33 / Route 136 – Westport, Saugatuck
20.36 18 Sherwood Island Connector (SSR 476) to US 1 – Sherwood Island State Park
Fairfield 22.88 19 Center Street – Southport Northbound exit and southbound entrance
23.12 19 US 1 – Southport Southbound exit and northbound entrance
23.72 20 Bronson Road Southbound exit and northbound entrance
24.38 21 Mill Plain Road
25.03 22 Round Hill Road Northbound exit and southbound entrance
25.21 22 Route 135 (North Benson Road) Southbound exit and northbound entrance
25.83 23 US 1 (Kings Highway)
26.72 24 Black Rock Turnpike (US 1) Connects to Routes 58 and 59
Bridgeport 27.43 25 Commerce Drive, State Street Northbound exit and southbound entrance; off-ramp is within Fairfield
27.64 25 Route 130 (Fairfield Avenue) Southbound exit and northbound entrance
28.29 26 Wordin Avenue
29.00 27 Lafayette Boulevard – Downtown Bridgeport Northbound exit and southbound entrance
29.03 27A Route 25 / Route 8 – Trumbull, Waterbury
29.14 27 Lafayette Boulevard – Downtown Bridgeport Southbound exit and northbound entrance
29.33 P.T. Barnum Bridge over the Pequonnock River
29.86 28 Route 127 (East Main Street) Northbound exit and southbound entrance
30.07 29 Route 130 (Stratford Avenue) / Seaview Avenue
31.07 30 Route 113 (Lordship Boulevard) Northbound exit and southbound entrance
Stratford 31.30 30 Surf Avenue – Stratford Southbound exit and northbound entrance
31 Honeyspot Road Northbound exit and southbound entrance
32.29 31 South Avenue Southbound exit and northbound entrance
32.86 32 West Broad Street – Stratford
33 Former toll plaza
33.91 33 US 1 / Route 110 / Route 130 / Ferry Boulevard – Devon Northbound exit and southbound entrance
Housatonic River
 34.54 Moses Wheeler Bridge
New Haven
 Milford 35.37 34 US 1 – Milford, Devon
35.85 35 School House Road, Bic Drive
36.69 36 Plains Road
37.45 37 High Street Northbound exit and southbound entrance
37.58 38 Route 15 (Merritt Parkway, Wilbur Cross Parkway via SR 796)
39.12 39 US 1 – Milford, Orange Signed as exits 39A (south) and 39B (north)
40.25 40 Old Gate Lane (SR 708), Woodmont Road
Orange 41.80 41 Marsh Hill Road – Orange
West Haven 43.91 42 Route 162 (Saw Mill Road) – West Haven
44 Former toll plaza
44.87 43 Campbell Avenue – Downtown West Haven Northbound exit and southbound entrance
45.19 43 Route 122 (First Avenue, SR 745) Southbound exit and northbound entrance
New Haven 45.90 44 Downtown West Haven (SR 745) Southbound exit and northbound entrance
46.05 45 Route 10 (Boulevard) Northbound exit signed as exit 44 (Route 10 via Kimberly Avenue)
46.82–
47.26		 46 Long Wharf Drive, Sargent Drive
47.46–
47.75		 47 Route 34 west – Downtown New Haven
47.58–
47.91		 48 I-91 north – Meriden
47.83 Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge over the Quinnipiac River
49.20 50 Woodward Avenue – Lighthouse Point Access to Port Area and Route 337; northbound exit and southbound entrance
East Haven 49.79–
50.18		 51 US 1 (Frontage Road) – East Haven Southbound is also signed for Lighthouse Point Park
50.53 52 Route 100 (North High Street) – East Haven Southbound exit and northbound entrance
Branford 51 Former toll plaza
52.33 53 US 1 / Route 142 / Route 146 (via SR 794) – Short Beach Northbound exit and southbound entrance
53.23 54 Cedar Street (SR 740) – Branford
55.18 55 US 1 (East Main Street) – North Branford
56.25 56 Leetes Island Road – Stony Creek
Guilford 59.32 57 US 1 (Boston Post Road) – North Branford
60.23 58 Route 77 – North Guilford, Guilford
61.49 59 Goose Lane (SR 718)
Madison 63 Former toll plaza
63.48 60 Mungertown Road Southbound exit and northbound entrance
64.73 61 Route 79 – North Madison, Madison
66.43 62 Hammonasset Connector – Madison Exit to Hammonasset State Park
Middlesex
 Clinton 68.61 63 Route 81 – Clinton, Killingworth
Westbrook 70.78 64 Route 145 (Horse Hill Road) – Clinton
73.14 65 Route 153 – Westbrook
Old Saybrook 74.40 66 Route 166 (Spencer Plain Road)
75.92 67 Elm Street Southbound exit and northbound entrance
76.73 67 Route 154 – Old Saybrook Northbound exit and southbound entrance
77.80 68 US 1 south – Old Saybrook South end of US 1 overlap
78.06 69 Route 9 north – Essex, Hartford
78 Former toll plaza
Connecticut River
 78.68 Baldwin Bridge
New London
 Old Lyme 79.15 70 US 1 north / Route 156 – Old Lyme, Hamburg, Laysville North end of US 1 overlap
83.49 71 Four Mile River Road – Old Lyme, East Lyme
East Lyme 84.02 72 Rocky Neck Connector (SSR 449) – East Lyme
85.79 73 Society Road – East Lyme
87.27 74 Route 161 – Flanders, Niantic
88.05 75 US 1 – Waterford, Flanders
88.48 76 I-395 (Connecticut Turnpike) / Route 11 north – Norwich, Salem Signed as exits 76A (I-395 North) and 76B (CT 11 North);
Northeast end of Connecticut Turnpike concurrency
Waterford 88.88 80 Oil Mill Road – Waterford Southbound exit and northbound entrance
90.12 81 Cross Road – Waterford
91.79 82 Route 85 (Broad St.) – Waterford, Chesterfield
92.26 82A Frontage Roads – New London Unsigned SR 623 (North Frontage) and SR 624 (South Frontage); milepost at northbound off-ramp; southbound exit is via exit 83; access to the shopping malls
New London 92.75–
93.15		 83 US 1 south (Colman Street) – Ocean Beach
Briggs Street (SR 636)		 South end of US 1 overlap; northbound exit is via exit 82A; access to Coast Guard Academy
93.35–
93.48		 84 Route 32 – Quaker Hill, Downtown New London
Williams Street (SR 635) – New London		 Signed southbound as exits 84S (Route 32 south), 84N (Route 32 north), and 84E (Williams Street); northbound exit is signed as exit 83; access to the Hodges Square and State Pier
Thames River Gold Star Bridge
Groton 94.63 85 US 1 north – Downtown Groton
Thames Street		 North end of US 1 overlap; northbound exit and southbound entrance; southbound access to US 1 north is via exit 87
95.33 86 Route 12 / Route 184 – Gales Ferry, Old Mystic Access exit to Naval Submarine Base New London
95.98 87 Route 349 south (Clarence B. Sharp Highway) – Groton
97.48 88 Route 117 – Poquonock Bridge, Ledyard
100.07 89 Allyn Street – West Mystic, Old Mystic, Groton Long Pt., Noank SR 614
Stonington 101.29 90 Route 27 – Mystic, Old Mystic Access to Mystic Aquarium and Seaport
104.23 91 Route 234 / North Main Street – Stonington Borough
106.25 92 Route 78 east – Pawcatuck Future Interchange
North Stonington 107.77 93 Route 2 – North Stonington, Pawcatuck
108.61 94 Route 49 – Pawcatuck, Clarks Falls
111.34 95 Route 216 to Route 184 – Clarks Falls, North Stonington, Ashaway
I-95 north Continuation into Rhode Island
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Scenic overlook

Between exits 89 and 90 eastbound is the Jerome Hoxie Scenic Overlook. This overlooks Mystic Cove.

References

  1. ^ Route Log - Main Routes of the Eisenhower National System Of Interstate and Defense Highways - Table 1
  2. ^ Connecticut Special Acts 1996, Connecticut State Library, Accessed July 30, 2008
  3. ^ Ginocchio, Mark, "Local leaders want access to DOT cameras", The Advocate of Stamford, Connecticut, July 15, 2007, pp 1, A6
  4. ^ Lucas, Jonathan, "I-95 lanes open in time for holidays: Project aims to ease congestion in Darien", article in 'The Advocate of Stamford, Connecticut, December 8, 2007, pp 1, A4, Norwalk edition

External links

Interstate 95
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